Between compassion & vegetarianism...

We encourage vegetarianism for health and humanity reason, as well as to help calming the mind for meditation, but, I do not relate vegetarianism with compassion, as compassion is beyond what we eat or don't eat, nor to specify compassion as there will be completely no lives will be harmed by the life existence of this body and mind, unless our life existence on earth can be without hurting any living beings at all in our everyday life, whether intentionally or unintentionally, directly or indirectly.

I neither identify myself as 'compassionate being' nor 'not compassionate being'. I support the teaching and practice of compassion, but at the same time, I am aware that the life existence of this body and mind cannot avoid hurting some forms of living being in everyday life, whether directly or indirectly. Just like all the elements of fire, water, wind and earth, they have no intention to be good or bad, to be constructive or destructive, but everything is existing and cease existing due to these elements, at the same time.

If someone believes in the theory of being compassionate means that there shouldn't be any lives be harmed at all by the life existence of this body and mind, then either we shouldn't exist at all if we really want to be compassionate, or compassion is something unfeasible or unachievable in this life existence which cannot avoid hurting some other life forms at all.

Even though we do not wish to hurt any lives, but just by being existing, there will be many lives be hurt by the existence of this body and mind, whether directly or indirectly. Just by eating vegetarian food cannot justify that there's completely no living forms are being harmed by the existence of this body and mind, and during the entire process of food consumption from plowing the earth, planting, harvesting, transportation, until the preparation and cooking the plant based food.

If we are not free from ignorance, egoism, attachment, identification, craving and aversion, we will try to protect the lives and welfare of certain living beings that we like and agree with, but we might hurt other living beings that we don't like and disagree with.

Out of selfish desires, craving, aversion, jealousy, anger, hatred and fear, we might do and say things that will hurt other beings. Just like some people might show intense passionate love towards certain beings, animals, or insects that they like, but they might not be able to show similar loving kindness towards some other beings, animals, or insects that they don't like. It's like, "I don't eat beef or fish as cow and fish are living beings like us and they are so cute, but I will kill rats, mosquitoes, cockroaches, flees, worms, ants, or spiders, as I don't like them, and I think they are bad and nasty," or "I love animals very much and I wish those who hurt any animals would be condemned to hell and suffer a lot," or "I love cats, but I hate dogs," and etc.

Being vegetarian doesn't necessarily mean that we are all nice and kind beings, or we are compassionate beings who are completely free from ignorance, egoism, attachment, identification, desires, craving, aversion, discrimination, ill-will, violence, anger, hatred, jealousy, greed, fear, worry, painful sorrow and suffering. While being non-vegetarian doesn't necessarily mean that we are all bad and evil beings, or we could not be free from ignorance, egoism, attachment, identification, desires, craving, aversion, discrimination, ill-will, violence, anger, hatred, jealousy, greed, fear, worry, painful sorrow and suffering.

There's nothing wrong if people think and believe that being compassionate means being vegetarian not eating meat or fish products, as everyone has the freedom of thinking and believe, and it does show certain loving kindness towards animals and fish, by not killing any animals or fish for food consumption. But then, we won't be free being conditioned by this thinking, as we are hurting many other life forms in everyday life either intentionally or unintentionally, whether we are aware or unaware of it, whether directly or indirectly.

It is a very hard decision, when life existence comes to a point that we have to choose to kill for food to survive, or rather die from hunger than to kill for food to survive. I do not encourage killing and yet I do not condemn those who have to kill for food to survive. Take a look at those who live in areas that have no basic food and safe drinking water at all, and who are suffering from poverty, extreme difficult condition, hunger and thirst. They have no basic food and safe drinking water for living, not to say to have choices of what type of food that they eat or don't eat.

Everyone might have different understanding and beliefs about what is compassion. One can never argue or debate about what is compassion based on every individual different thinking and definition about what is compassion.

There's nothing wrong if someone say that "To be compassionate, we should not eat meat or fish, nor killing any life forms." But we are not really compassionate even though we don't kill animals or fish for food to survive, or carefully not harming any life forms in the surrounding environment, if we are not free from ignorance, egoism, attachment, identification, desires, craving, aversion, and all sorts of impurities like anger, hatred, jealousy, greed, dissatisfaction, disappointment, ill-will, ill-thinking, feelings of hurt, defensiveness, offensiveness, obsessiveness, possessiveness, fear and worry, constantly being restless and determined by all the names and forms that the mind perceives through the senses.

It is up to ourselves to realize what is compassion, and be free.

In the teachings of yoga and Buddhism, to be free from ignorance, egoism, attachment, identification, desires, craving, aversion, and all sorts of impurities like anger, hatred, jealousy, greed, dissatisfaction, disappointment, ill-will, ill-thinking, feelings of hurt, defensiveness, offensiveness, obsessiveness, possessiveness, fear and worry, to know the truth of things as they are and realize unconditional peace beyond all the qualities of name and form, is being compassionate towards oneself and all beings.

We should appreciate and be grateful towards all beings and everything that is supporting all beings to be existing, to have the opportunity to be existing in this selfless impermanent life form to experience the inevitable restless suffering of the existence and function of a selfless perceptive thinking mind under the limited physical body that needs to be fed and maintained ceaselessly, and thus, be motivated to work diligently towards attaining liberation to be free from ignorance and suffering.

Liberation from ignorance and egoism in the mind, and annihilation/silence of the modification of this mind, is indeed compassion towards oneself and others. Having correct understanding towards the selfless mind perception of an impermanent worldly life existence, where all kinds of suffering are deriving from ignorance and the consequences of ignorance, while without being determined by all kinds of ignorance and the consequences of ignorance within the mind perception of the restless world of selfless impermanent names and forms, is compassion.

When we realize what is oneness, non-separateness, attributelessness, namelessness and formlessness, there’s neither vegetarian nor non-vegetarian. All are subject to the suffering of selflessness and impermanence, being governed by the nature’s law of cause and effect.

People can keep debating and arguing about vegetarianism and non-vegetarianism, that's their freedom of expression, action, speech, thinking and belief.

Be happy.